HOMONYMS are words that sound alike but have different meanings.Homophones are a type of homonym that also sound alike and have different meanings, but have different spellings.
Homonyms are the words that sound like one another, particularly when that are pronounced the same way but spelt differently.
The Concise Oxford Dictionary defines a homonym as: each of the two or more words having the same spelling and/or pronunciation or different spelling and/or pronunciation but different meanings and origins.
Example: Pole and Pole
The first Pole refers to a citizen of Poland who could either be referred to as Polish or a Pole. The second Pole refers to a bamboo pole or any other wooden pole.
The Homonyms will have the similarity among them either in their spellings or in their pronunciation or in both.
Homonyms are good friends of writers specializing in humor, since they make excellent raw materials for puns.
Let us take alphabetical walk down the Lane of Homonyms and discover the different ones that ambush us along the way.